NHL releases new female jerseys

Most importantly let me see the one woman that wants to buy this jersey:

Only $69.99 on Shop.NHL.com

I am slightlyoffended that this is the stance that the league has taken with marketing towards the female fan base. I admit that I am okay with the female cut jerseys for some that don’t want to wear a real jersey; but even that took some time to rub off on me.

Maybe it is just me but I feel that if you are going to wear a jersey then WEAR A JERSEY.

Me in my Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom jersey

Am I the only one that feels that these new jerseys in some ways deface what the logos and the team colors represent? Am I the only female that feels that the league has placed us all in a “Oooo look! It’s shiny!” category?

Makes my time spent going to school for Sports Management kind of feel like the ultimate joke…

I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon trying to get the wherewithal to buy the pink,sparkly Predators jersey (with a cute little heart with Gnash on the ass) that my mother wants for her birthday.* I was starting to wonder if I was missing some sort of Girl Gene that makes me think they’re cute instead of feeling all stabby every time I pick one of those things up. I had to leave Sports Season before my will to live completely evaporated.

Cheryl, as a think (but getting less so all the time) woman, I second your excellent post about sizing issues for womens’ fangear.

Regards,
JF
(Who is typing this as her canine minion, HH the Doggy Lama Niklas Lidstrom the Shih Tzu snoozes at her feet.)

You’re not alone. While I understand there’s a (small) percentage of female NHL fans that enjoy and even want sparkly and/or pink team clothing, it’s a SMALL percentage. And they only market the “female” clothing towards women who are small sizes, so there are women “of size” who do like the whole “sparkly/pink” thing but can’t get it in their size.

I did a poll of female hockey fans about 2 months ago, and of all the female fans who responded, only ONE said she liked the options for pink/sparkly gear. Every other woman said they want team colors but more selection of sizes and more cuts to match women’s bodies/curves.

Women aren’t the only ones who suffer through sexism/size-ism, either. Women have to deal with size/cut issues due to boobs and hips, of course. But big/tall men (and women) are also challenged to find team gear that fits. Reebok, the NHL’s most current clothing manufacturer, cuts their T-shirts in 4 different styles. The loosest/most comfortable cut – the “athletic” cut – is the most difficult to find. Form-fitting seems to be the norm these days, and honestly, not everybody wants to show off their pulse through their clothing. If I wanted to do that, I’d buy a size smaller!

And compared side by side to previous jersey manufacturers’ product, the Reebok jerseys are a full 4-5″ smaller in circumference than say, CCM’s product for the “same” size. You’d think that at a time when the American waistlines are expanding, sports manufacturers would go the other way with sizes. 2X for Reebok what L or XL would be for other manufacturers. If it’s their way of cutting costs, it’s foolish, because it cuts their sales, too.

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